Pope names Bertone as secretary of state

Pope Benedict has named Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone the
Vatican's next secretary of state, a post often dubbed the "deputy
pope" and number two in the Holy See hierarchy.

Bertone, 71, succeeds Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 78, who is
retiring after 15 years. Sodano will stay in his post until
September 15 when Bertone will take over officially.

The Vatican also announced that American Cardinal Edmund Szoka,
the governor of Vatican City, would retire on September 15 and be
replaced by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's foreign
minister.

The nominations were the latest in a series of changes in the
Vatican hierarchy since the Pope's election in April 2005.

The Secretary of State has broad administrative duties to
coordinate the work of Vatican departments and their dealings with
the Catholic Church's worldwide operations.

Bertone has no diplomatic experience but as the Vatican's top
diplomat will oversee relations with nearly 174 countries.

In March, 2005, Bertone made headlines around the world when he
led the Vatican's charge against The Da Vinci Code, calling the
best-selling book "a sack full of lies" and urging Catholics to
shun it.

Bertone, who was made a cardinal in 2003, has been archbishop of
the north-western city of Genoa since 2002.

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the
conclave that elected Benedict in April, 2005.

Before moving to Genoa, Bertone worked with the future pope, the
then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in the Vatican's Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith.

Considered a world class theologian, he held the number two spot
in the key department that deals with Church doctrine between 1995
and 2002.

In that job, Bertone helped then Cardinal Ratzinger deal with
the widespread ramifications of the sexual abuse scandal in the
United States.

One of eight children born into a family of modest means in
Italy's northern Piedmont region, Bertone is a passionate fan of
Turin's Juventus soccer team.